Farming out the back yard

Some busy people rely on personal chefs and personal shoppers. Attorney Catherine Turner has a personal farmer.

About once a week, Stefan Meyer bikes to Turner's south Minneapolis home to tend the crops he planted last month in her back yard. He pulls weeds, applies organic fertilizer, makes notations in a garden journal.

Turner can't wait for the day when she can snip her first fresh greens and toss a home-grown salad. "I'm super-excited," she said. Yes, she could garden without hired help. She's grown her own veggies before but never on this scale. "This garden has been planned and engineered for greatest yield," she said. "Next year, I'd like to do it myself. Hopefully, some of his [Meyer's] wide breadth of knowledge rubs off on me."

Many in the Twin Cities are producing food with the help of a pro this growing season. Interest in home-grown produce is up because people want to eat locally and organically, and they could save money in the long term.

This spring, at least two new residential farming services were launched, tapping into a small but ripe niche market.

"It's going gangbusters," said Joan James, co-owner of A Backyard Farm. James and her partner, Coleen Gregor, are longtime gardeners who were inspired to turn pro after hearing about similar businesses on the West Coast. They distributed fliers in St. Paul's Mac-Groveland neighborhood early this spring, and quickly picked up more than a dozen clients, most of them seeking complete garden maintenance (starting at $35 weekly) as well as installation.

"People want to know where their food is coming from," James said. And after the initial first-year investment of a few hundred dollars to have their garden installed, many customers also hope to start saving money on their food bills.